Article supporting device



July 30, 1968 R. H; SAVILLE 3,394,819

ARTICLE SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed May 5, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 24 M mi 0,a: 47 3 INVENTOR. 4 FIG RUSSELL 1-]. SAV/LLE FIG I %MJM ATTORNEYS July30, 1968 R. H. SAVILLE 3,394,819 ARTICLE SUPPORTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sh 27 Filed May a, 1966 Z8 m m /3 m INV R Hussfi'gL H SAV/LLE ATTORN SUnited States Patent 0 3,394,819 ARTICLE SUPPORTING DEVICE Russell H.Saville, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor, by mesne assignments, toFluoroware, Inc., Chaska, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed May 5,1966, Ser. No. 547,955 8 Claims. (Cl. 211-126) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A basket for supporting substantially fiat articles in a bathof cleaning or plating fluid without materially reducing the surfacearea of the article available to the bath. Spaced support bars areprovided, each having a side-byside series of V-shaped indentationsformed in their opposing sides. An apex of each indentation in one sidelies between a pair of indentations in the other side. The support barsare mounted in a generally parallel, spaced relationship with theindentations being aligned across the space between them to provide arow of chambers for holding the articles. A bottom strip is mountedbelow and between each adjacent pair of support bars to form a bottomfor the chambers. The basket is provided with a cover for the chambersand with a handle to support it in the bath.

It is common practice in industry today to treat various types ofarticles in cleaning or plating baths. Such articles are normallysuspended in a bath of fluid for cleaning by either chemical orultrasonic methods. Similarly, such articles are commonly suspended in aplating bath to coat the article by either chemical or electrochemicalmeans. In each case, apparatus must be provided toproperly support thearticle in the bath.

The desirable characteristics of supporting racks are well known in theart and many different designs have been invented in response to variousproblems encountered by the inventor. To operate in a desirable manner,article supporting apparatus should not react with the bath; theapparatus should occupy a small amount of space in the bath inproportion to the space occupied by the articles being cleaned orplated; the apparatus should pack the articles as densely as possiblewithout interfering with the cleaning or plating operation; theapparatus should not interfere with the free flow of fluid between thearticles being plated; the apparatus should enable quick insertion andremoval of articles therefrom; and the apparatus should support thearticles such that substantially the entire surface thereof is exposedtothe action of the bath.

The present invention was designed especially for sup porting generallyflat, disc-like articles in a cleaning or plating bath. It was importantthat the fiat surfaces of these articles did not come in contact withthe supporting rack. My invention is designed such that only the edgesof the disc-like articles come in contact with the rack. The surfaces ofthe articles can therefore be cleaned and plated without danger ofspotting or otherwise becoming marred by contact with the supportingapparatus.

It is therefore a primary object of my invention to provide apparatusfor supporting generally flat, disc-like articles in a cleaning orplating bath such that only the edges of the article come in contactwith the supporting apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for supportingsubstantially flat articles in a bath without materially reducing thesurface area of the article available to the bath, while at the sametime increasing the packing density of said articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide molded plastic apparatusfor supporting disc-like articles in a bath so that the articles areclosely spaced in the bath but yet held from. contact with one anothersuch that only the edges of the articles come in contact with thesupporting apparatus.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an articlesupporting rack for cleaning or plating baths that provides for highdensity packing without eliminating or substantially reducing the freeflow of fluid between the articles.

Another object of my invention is to provide a rack designed for rapidinsertion and removal of articles while at the same time providingcomplete constraint for articles placed therein.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparentfrom the following specification and claims when considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my invention showing the basket member,handle and cover;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1, showing apair of generally fiat disc-like articles placed in the chambers formedby the basket member and cover;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top view, partially in section, taken along line3 3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the basket member, with parts thereofremoved, showing the chambers formed therein, a portion of said chambershaving disc-like articles placed therein;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side view of the basket member according to myinvention with parts thereof removed;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the basket member, with portions thereofcutaway to disclose a disc-like article sup ported by one of thechambers in said basket member;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the basket member showingthe exact relationships of the support bars and bottom strips;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the parts thereof removed;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the cover member with parts thereof removed;and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the handle for the apparatus.

An overall View of the supporting apparatus or rack according to myinvention is disclosed in FIG. 1. Basically, the apparatus comprisesthree separate parts, a basket member 10, a cover member 11 and a handle12. The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is designed to be inserted into acleaning or plating bath such that basket member 10 and cover 11 arebelow the surface of the bath while handle 12 extends above the surfaceof the bath. Basket member 10 provides the basic support for articlesplaced in the rack since it provides both lateral support for thearticles and a bottom support. Cover member 11 is placed on basketmember 10 after the articles are placed therein to prevent the articlesfrom escaping from basket member 10.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is disclosed a perspective view of aportion of basket member 10. Basket member 10 comprises .a plurality ofsupport members or support bars such as 13 and 14. Support bars 13 and14 are mounted in a parallel spaced relationship. Support bars 13 and 14can be considered to have first and second faces on opposite sidesthereof and first and second ends. Support bars 13 and 14 each has afirst series of V- shaped indentations such as 13a and 14a formedside-byside in one face thereof, and a second series of V-shapedindentations such as 1312 and 141) formed side-by-side in the otherface. The indentations are so arranged that cover member with the apexof each indentation in one face of a support bar lies between a pair ofindentations in the opposite face of the same support bar. Each of theindentations extends the full height of the support bar and therefore isformed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the support bar.

In FIG. 4, it is shown that support bars 13 and 14 are connected at theends thereof by means of end supports 15 and 16. End supports 15 and 16hold support bars 13 and 14 in the previously mentioned parallel spacedrelationship. FIG. 4 also discloses the basket member 10 includes twomore support bars 17 and 18 that are connected together at the endsthereof by a pair of end supports 19 and 20. Support bars 14 and 17 areconnected together by end supports 21 and 22.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, it can be seen that end supports 15,16, 19, 20, 21 and 22 extend below the support bars a given distance.The end supports are connected at their bottom edges by bottom strips28, 29 and 30 to be explained hereinafter.

Basket member 10 has a first row of chambers such as 25 formed thereinbetween support bars 13 and 14; a second row of chambers such as 26formed therein between support bars 14 and 17; and a third row ofchambers such as 27 formed therein between support bars 17 and 18. Thefirst series of indentations such as 13b on one support member 13 arealigned with the second series of indentations such as 14a on adjoiningsupport member 14 to form the sides of the chambers such as 25. Thesides of the chambers are not completely closed because of the spacingbetween the adjacent support bars. This relationship is clearly shown inFIG. 7. The chambers are, however, designed to provide lateral supportfor a generally fiat disc-shaped article placed therein, provided thatthe diameter of the article is larger than the spacing between thesupport bars. Chambers 26 and 27 are formed in the same manner as aboveusing support members 14 and 17, and 17 and 18 respectively.

The bottom strips 28, 29 and 30 comprise further sup port means and aremounted in parallel with adjacent pairs of the support bars. Each of thebottom strips 28, 29 and 30 extends between the corresponding endsupport means and is mounted in a fixed relationship with respect to theadjacent support members.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention shown here, each of thebottom strips lies along a line in a vertical plane that bisects thespace between the two adjacent support members. Since the bottom stripsare designed to provide support for the bottom of an article placed in achamber, they do not lie directly between the support bars but aremounted below them at an equal distance from the two adjoining bars.Bottom strips 28, 29 and 30 all lie in a common plane that is spacedequidistant from each of the support bars. The fact that each bottomstrip lies in a vertical plane that bisects the space between theadjoining support bars is clearly shown in FIG. 4. The fact that all ofthe strips lie in a common horizontal plane spaced from the support barsis clearly shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

As previously mentioned each of the bottom strips 28, 29 and 30 isconnected to the corresponding end supports. In addition, a plurality ofL-shaped members such as 28a and 28b is connected to the support membersand to the bottom strips to hold the bottom strips in the desiredposition.

The particular method of constructing basket member 10 is not criticalto my invention but it should be noted that, in the preferredembodiment, the entire basket member 10 is molded in one piece from asuitable plastic material such as Teflon. The molded structure is quitestrong and rigid and yet provides sufficient space for fluid to flowfreely between articles placed therein.

In FIG. 4, a series of disc-like aricles 31, 32 and 33 has been placedin chambers 25, 26 and 27 respectively. Lateral support for article 31,for example, is provided by the V-shaped indentations in support bars 13and 14. Support for the bottom of article 31 is provided by bottom strip28. Although article 31 is free to move about within the confines ofchamber 25, it can be seen that only the edges of article 31 will evercome in contact with the surfaces of chamber 25. The flat surfaces ofarticle 31 are thus always available to the bath action. Neither willarticle 31 come in contact with any of the other articles placed inbasket member 10.

Basket member 10 provides support for the side edges and the bottom ofan article placed therein, but cover member 11 must be added to preventthe articles from escaping the chambers. Cover member 11 comprises agenerally rectangular frame 35 that corresponds in length and width tothe length and width of basket member 10. This size relationship can beobserved in FIG. 1. Extending between the ends of frame 35 is aplurality of thin cover strips 36, 37 and 38. The cover stripscorrespond in size and number to the previously described bottom strips28, 29 and 30 on basket member 10. When cover member 11 is placed onbasket member 10 as shown in FIG. 1, each of the cover strips lies inthe same vertical plane as a corresponding bottom strip. For example,cover strip 36 lies in the same vertical plane as bottom strip 28. Aplurality of brace members such as 39 and 40 extend between the sides offrame 35 and are connected to each of cover strips 36, 37 and 38 to holdthe cover strips rigidly in the plane of frame 35.

Attached to one side of cover member 11 is a plurality of leg memberssuch as 41 and 42. Leg members 41 and 42 are connected to both frame 35and to brace members 39 and 40 so that the support of cover member 11 isdistributed over the entire area thereof.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 9, it can be observed that leg members 41are shorter than leg members 42. Leg members 41 are designed to restagainst the top surfaces of support bars 13, 14, 17 and 18 when thecover is placed in the position shown in FIG. 1. In the preferredembodiment of my invention, cover 11 is supported a distance from thesupport bars that correspond to the distance the bottom strips aremounted from the support members. This relationship can also be seen inFIG. 2.

The leg members 42 are mounted only around the edge of frame 35 and aredesigned to fit into one of the V- shaped indentations along the outsideedge of basket member 10. Leg members 42 thus prevent lateral movementof cover 11 with respect to basket member 10.

Handle 12 is designed to support basket member 10 and cover member 11 inthe bath. Handle 12 is a onepiece molded member having a generallyrectangular cross section. Molded at the bottom end of handle 12 is apair of stop members 46 and 47 that act to increase the cross sectionalarea of the handle at that point. As shown in FIG. 1, handle member 12is designed to extend through basket member 10 and cover member 11. Toaccomplish this, bottom strip 29 and cover strip 37 have been cut awayat chamber 26a to open up that centrally located chamber for insertionof handle 12. Handle 12 is designed to fit snugly within chamber 26a toaid in preventing lateral motion of cover 11 with respect to basketmember 10. As shown in FIG. 2, basket member 10 is supported on theupper surfaces of stop members 46 and 47.

It is apparent from FIG. 1 that several basket members and cover membersmay be stacked together on a single handle 12. The capacity of theapparatus can thus be greatly increased. It should also be apparent thatthe apparatus need not be limited to the exact structure described here.Additional support bars can be added to the basket member to increasethe number of chambers available. Even if the basket members and coversare stacked or if the size of the members is increased, fluid in thebath will continue to flow freely throughout the apparatus, makingcontact with all of the articles supported therein. Perhaps the mostimportant feature, however, is the fact that the sides of the articlesnever make contact with the supporting apparatus, regardless of theagitation or movement that occurs.

While I have illustrated and described the best form of the inventionnow known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in the form of the apparatus described withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, as set forth inthe appended claims. For these reasons, I intend to be bound only by theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Molded plastic apparatus for supporting generally flat, disc-likearticles in a cleaning or plating bath, comprising in combination:

(a) a basket member, comprising:

(1) a plurality of support members each having first and second faces onopposite sides thereof and first and second ends, each of said supportmembers having a first series of V-shaped indentations formedside-by-side in said first face and a second series of similarindentations formed side-by-side in said second face so that an apex ofeach indentation in one of said series lies between a pair ofindentations in said other series;

(2) first and second end support means rigidly connected to each of saidfirst and second ends respectively to hold said support members in aparallel spaced relationship with said first face of said supportmembers facing said second face of an adjacent support member, saidindentations in said adjacent faces being aligned so as to providelateral support for opposite edges of a disc-like article placed betweensaid aligned indentations parallel to said end support means;

(3) a plurality of thin bottom strips extending between said first andsecond end support means in a fixed positional relationship with respectto said support members, a single strip lying along a line in a verticalplane bisecting each of the spaces between said support members, saidstrips all lying in a common horizontal plane that is spaced equidistantfrom each of said support members;

(4) a plurality of L-shaped members connected to said support membersand to said bottom strips to hold said strips in said fixed positionalrelationship;

(b) a cover member, comprising:

(1) a generally rectangular frame corresponding in linear dimensionsalong the ends and sides thereof to the length and width of said basketmember;

(2) a plurality of thin cover strips corresponding in size and number tosaid bottom strips and ex tending between the ends of said frame so thatwhen said cover member is placed on said basket member opposite saidsupport members from said bottom strips, each of said cover strips liesin the same vertical plane as a corresponding bottom strip;

(3) a plurality of brace members extending between the sides of saidframe and being connected to said frame and to each of said cover stripsto hold said cover strips rigidly in the plane of said frame;

(0) a plurality of leg members mounted on one side of said cover memberperpendicular to the plane of said frame to removably support said covermember a distance from said basket member generally corresponding to thedistance said bottom strips are mounted from said support members; and

(d) a handle member designed to extend through said basket member andsaid cover member to hold said cover member in position on said basketmember and to provide means to support said apparatus in a bath.

2. Apparatus for supporting substantially flat articles in a bath ofcleaning or plating fluid without materially reducing the surface areaof the article available to the bath, comprising:

(a) at least two support bars each having a side-byside series ofindentations formed normal to the length thereof;

(b) each of said support bars having a pair of parallel sides facing inopposite directions, said indentations being V-shaped and being formedin said opposite sides of said support bars so that an apex of eachindentation in one side lies between a pair of indentations in saidother side;

(c) means for mounting said support bars so that said indented sides liein a parallel spaced relationship, said indentations being alignedacross said space between them to form the sides of a row of chambersfor holding said articles; and

(d) further support means mounted in parallel with adjacent pairs ofsaid support bars and spaced generally equidistant therefrom to form abottom for said chambers.

3. Apparatus for supporting substantially flat articles in a bath ofcleaning or plating fluid without materially reducing the surface areaof the article available to the bath, comprising:

(a) at least two support bars each having a side-byside series ofindentations formed normal to the length thereof in at least one sidethereof;

(b) means for mounting said support bars so that said indented sides liein a parallel spaced relationship, said indentations being alignedacross said space between them to form the sides of a row of chambersfor holding said articles;

(c) said indentations being shaped such that only the edges of a flat,disc-like article placed in one of said chambers will touch the sidesthereof, provided that the diameter of said article is greater than thedistance between said support bars; and

(d) further support means mounted in parallel with adjacent pairs ofsaid support bars and spaced generally equidistant therefrom to form abottom for said chambers.

4. Apparatus for supporting substantially flat articles in a bath ofcleaning or plating fiuid without materially reducing the surface areaof the article available to the bath, comprising:

(a) at least two support bars each having a side-byside series ofindentations formed normal to the length thereof in at least one sidethereof;

(b) means for mounting said support bars so that said indented sides liein a parallel spaced relationship, said indentations being alignedacross said space between them to form the sides of a row of chambersfor holding said articles; and

(c) further support means mounted in parallel with adjacent pairs ofsaid support bars and spaced generally equidistant therefrom to form abottom for said chambers, said further support means comprising a thinbottom strip mounted along a line in a plane bisecting the space betweeneach adjacent pair of said support bars, to thereby provide support forarticles placed in said chambers without significantly blocking the flowof said fluid through said chambers.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 in combination with a cover member,comprising:

(a) a generally rectangular frame having a plurality of cover stripsextending between the ends thereof so that with said cover member inposition on said support bars opposite from said bottom strips, each ofsaid cover strips lies in the same plane as a corresponding bottomstrip;

(b) a plurality of brace members connected to said frame and to each ofsaid cover strips to hold said cover strips rigidly in the plane of saidframe; and

(c) means for removably supporting said cover member on said supportbars to 'prevent the escape of said articles from said chambers.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in combination with a handle memberdesigned to extend through one of said chambers and through said covermember to prevent lateral movement of said cover member with respect tosaid chambers and to provide means to support said apparatus in a bath.

7. Apparatus for supporting articles in a bath without materiallyreducing the surface area of the article available to the bath,comprising:

(a) a plurality of support bars each having a side-byside series ofV-shaped indentations formed normal to the length thereof;

(b) means for mounting said support bars so that said indented sides liein a spaced relationship, said indentations being aligned across saidspace between them to form the sides of a row of chambers for holdingsaid articles;

(c) said indentations being formed in opposite sides of said supportbars so that an apex of each indentation in one side lies between a pairof indentations in the other side, whereby a plurality of said supportbars can be mounted in said spaced relationship to form more than asingle row of said chambers; and 25 (d) further support means mountedadjacent said support bars and spaced therefrom to form a bottom forsaid chambers.

8. Apparatus for supporting articles in a bath without materiallyreducing the surface area of the article available to the bath,comprising:

(a) a first support bar having a pair of oppositely facing sides, eachof said sides having a side-by-side series of V-shaped indentationsformed normal thereto so that an apex of each indentation in one sidelies between a pair of indentations in said other side;

(b) a second supporting means;

(c) mounting means for mounting said first support bar and said secondsupporting means in a spaced relationship to form a plurality ofchambers for holding said articles, said mounting means including aplurality of support members, said support members each being connectedat opposite ends to said second supporting means and to said firstsupport bar at an apex located between each pair of adjoiningindentations; and

(d) further support means mounted on said support members between saidfirst support bar and said second supporting means and spaced therefromto further support said articles.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 171,132 12/1953 Hudson 220-21XR 1,749,953 3/ 1930 Lichtman 204-297 3,283,915 11/1966 Maslow 211126FOREIGN PATENTS 607,733 9/ 1948 Great Britain. 1,360,048 3/ 1964 France.

30 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner.

